Did you know that sweat isn't inherently stinky? In fact, it's nearly odorless. We sweat for 3 different reasons:
Our bodies have anywhere from 2-4 million sweat glands of which there only 2 types:
Eccrine glands occur over most of your body and open directly onto the surface of the skin. These glands are responsible for regulating body temperature. When the body temperature rises, the sympathetic nervous system stimulates the eccrine sweat glands to secrete water to the skin surface, where it cools the body by evaporation. Their secretions are 99% water with some salt. No odor going on here!
Stress sweat is produced from the apocrine sweat glands and these glands exist in the area of our body that is covered with hair follicles (armpits, groin and scalp).
The secretion of these glands, caused by stress, creates the foulest stench and is the hardest to control. Researchers say that these sweat glands are associated with the evolutionary role in the flight or flight response. That is, when we are under attack, our bodies produce a bad smell so that the vicious creature we’re running from wouldn’t want to eat us. The science says this is also true. When we encounter stress, the tubule wall of the apocrine sweat gland contracts, releasing a fatty secretion to the skin, where local bacteria break it down into smelly fatty acids. Sounds delightful! This is why we wear deodorant. Nobody wants to smell.
Americans spend $18 billion a year on deodorant for the purpose of eliminating smell and/or blocking sweat.
If you use an antiperspirant, you will in fact block the sweat glands from releasing any type of liquid. Although it may sound like it, this is not a good thing! As gross as the description of sweat gland secretion may sound or as unappealing as the thought of having sweaty armpits may be, here’s what happens to your body when you use an antiperspirant.
An antiperspirant, which is classified as a drug by the FDA, causes proteins within your body to precipitate and mechanically block the sweat ducts. The metal salts found in antiperspirants alter the structures in the ducts. These ducts then close and form a plug so that sweat will not come out. As you can see, many problems can arise from using synthetic chemicals to block the body’s natural and very important function of secreting sweat.
A deodorant is a substance applied to the body to prevent body odor. Commercial deodorants, even those that claim they are “all natural” are filled with dangerous chemicals that enter into our skin every time we smear them on. Our skin is our largest organ and its role is to cover and protect everything inside your body. What we put on our skin should be so pure, organic and considered a ‘real food’ item that if it tasted good, we could eat it. When we eat food, it affects our organs. Your skin is an organ. What you put on your skin should nourish your skin cells.
This is why we created our brand of deodorant with ingredients that you could eat. It probably won’t taste good but knowing that you are blocking body odor with organic and pure ingredients that truly nourishes your skin, this seems pretty darn good.
Your deodorant doesn't care if you're male or female.
While women have more sweat glands than men, men's sweat glands produce more sweat.
But deodorant for men or for women is most likely little more than a marketing ploy. In at least one brand, the same active ingredient is present in the same amounts in the sticks for men and women, Discovery Health reported. It's only packaging and fragrance that differs.
TOP 10 REASONS TO CARE ABOUT WHAT IS IN YOUR DEODORANT: